“So you admit you did talk to him?”
“I did, but only because I wanted to find out who planted the seeds for the other article. It was Isabela.”
“He said that?”
“Well, not in so many words…” She trailed off. That pimply punk had used her.
“Fooling around?” A bitter laugh shook Naldo.
“I was talking about how we used to fool around on the courts. I can’t believe he managed to make it sound so…so…”
“Sexual?” Naldo’s steady black gaze challenged her.
She swallowed.
“Don’t stop reading now. It’s just about to get good. In fact, I’ll read it.” He seized the paper and read aloud.
“‘Ms. Marcus has good reason to seek a little tenderness in the arms of a former lover. In the last year she has divorced her husband of five years and declared bankruptcy.’”
She gasped. His emphasis on the final word made it hang in the air. Naldo stared at her for an agonizing moment, then focused his eyes back on the paper. “‘The commercial real estate firm Ms. Marcus owned with her husband, Barry Lennox, went belly up after a string of risky investments, and the Marcus-Lennox marriage went south along with it.’
“‘Flat broke and newly divorced from a man who has since remarried, Ms. Marcus found herself once again within arm’s reach of one of Florida’s wealthiest and most powerful men, citrus heir Reynaldo De Leon’.” He glared at her with narrowed eyes and her stomach clenched like a fist.
“‘Reynaldo De Leon and Anna Marcus have wasted no time rekindling their old flame, following in the footsteps of their late parents, Robert De Leon and his longtime cook, Leticia Marcus.’”
He paused and stared at her for a long time with an intensity that made her shiver. Then he read on.
“‘Whispers still echo around the local corridors of power that the death of the late Mrs. DeLeon was no accident. It’s long been rumored that news of Robert De Leon’s affair with his cook caused his wife to take her own life.’” He emphasized the last words with grim finality.
“Oh, my god.” Anna’s hand flew to her mouth. Her head started pounding. “Is this true?”
“Yes.” Naldo hurled the word at her. “It’s true. She swallowed a bottle of painkillers. I found her in her bedroom.” His eyes glittered with pain. “I tried to revive her, but she was already gone.”
“Oh, no.” She murmured it into her hand as blood pounded in her brain. “The affair began while she was still alive?”
Naldo stared at her, his face suddenly hard as stone. “Yes. And my mother knew. She couldn’t live with the shame of it.”
Anna sank into a kitchen chair. Her own father had been a married man, but her mom swore she didn’t know about his wife until after she became pregnant and told him.
Here she’d apparently entered knowingly into an affair with a married man.
And it had killed his wife. “I’m so, so sorry.”
“Why? It had nothing to do with you. But you can see why my dad would do anything to keep the story from coming out. He bought and paid for a decade of silence.” Naldo paused, holding her gaze with a fierce stare. “Now he’s dead, and the silence has been broken.”
Anna sagged into her chair, hardly able to believe what she’d just heard. It was tempting to judge, but she could see why her mother-alone and struggling for so many years-would seek affection in the arms of her strong, charming and charismatic employer.
Now she knew why her mom never told her. She almost wished she’d never found out about the affair. Maybe some things were better kept secret.
“You didn’t tell me you were bankrupt.” His harsh words scattered her thoughts.
“I…” A pink tide of humiliation flooded her brain. She’d almost forgotten that tidbit of information after the horrifying revelation of the suicide. Now Naldo knew she was a failure.
If only the scuffed linoleum floor would open up and swallow her whole.
“I thought you were toying with me because you didn’t need the money. That it was some kind of game to you. Now I know you’re broke, I don’t know whether your continued refusal to accept my offer is motivated by greed or insanity?”
“It’s true. I am broke.” The words, spoken aloud, lifted some of the weight off her chest.
“I know. I called the publisher as soon as I saw this. Then I woke the reporter up at home. Once he stopped stammering, he told me how easy it was to do some Google-ing and make a few phone calls to Boston.” His gaze was unreadable, but still contained no traces of the fury she might have expected.
She let out a sigh. “I didn’t want you to find out.”
His eyes softened. “I know.”
“You’re not angry?”
“Not about you being poor.” A smile tugged at his mouth. “Sure, I was a little steamed when I found out you’d deceived me. But you’re a proud woman, and you didn’t want my pity. I respect that.”
A funny feeling tugged at the pit of Anna’s stomach. Why wasn’t he mad? That she could deal with. This casual attitude threw her right off balance.
“I didn’t say any of that stuff about you and me.”
“The reporter told me he quoted you word for word.” He raised a dark brow.
“Out of context! The part about a relationship between us is total speculation on his part. You could just deny it.”
“Oh, could I? It’s true, isn’t it? To quote a hotheaded and high-strung woman of my acquaintance.”
“I am not high-strung!”
“I notice you’re not arguing on the hotheaded.” The hard line of his mouth tilted into a half smile.
“No.” She bit her lower lip. “I don’t think I could argue with that. I’m sorry I let that journalist use me. I fell into a trap. I should have known better. I’m so embarrassed that everyone will know I’m a big failure. I never even told my mom. She was so proud of me.”
She bit the inside of her mouth. No tears came, though. She must be getting used to body blows of disappointment and humiliation.
“Your husband remarried already?” Naldo spoke quietly.
“He was seeing her while we were married. I didn’t know. Too busy working.” She pushed the words between tight lips. “I also didn’t know he was forging my signature and using our assets as collateral to buy more properties without asking me. When the bottom fell out of the market we were wiped out and owed a lot of money. We had no choice but to declare bankruptcy.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. You’re right, I don’t want your pity.”
“You don’t want my money, either, do you?” A furrow appeared between his brows.
“No. I don’t. I only wish I didn’t need it so badly.”
“There’s no shame in taking what’s rightfully owed you.”
“Sure there is. I don’t believe in gaining success through inherited wealth. I prefer to earn it.”
Naldo considered this. A twinkle appeared in his eye. “Are you implying that I’m sponging off my ancestors?”
“You said it, not me.” She cocked her head.
The odd expression on his face, like he was actually contemplating whether what she said was true, touched something tender inside her. “No, I don’t mean that. I saw you out there planting that tree like it really mattered, and I know from my mom’s letters that you work harder than anyone on the estate.”
He looked at her, serious. “We’re all partners in this endeavor.”
“Partners in more ways than one, sometimes.”
It took a moment to sink in. “Indeed.”
She took a deep breath. “I’m sure the story about us will blow over as soon as I’m gone. I bet you can’t wait to be rid of me.” Her voice sounded flat, which was exactly how she felt.
Naldo shot her a shimmering black gaze that made her stomach quiver.
“You’re wrong. I want you to stay.”
